Two Analysis Schools
Over the years, I have seen two distinct analysis schools of thought. There is the ‘let’s get this over with so we can start doing the real work’ school and the ‘let’s work through the tough problems now so that our implementation is straightforward’ school. There appears to be a gradual migration from the first to the second in the industry, but the first continues to be fueled by a lack of appreciation for the value of effective analysis in the educational system. Read more
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Quality Spike
I was working through a requirements session with an IT team from a large global company this week, and several times the topic of agility came up. There are as many perceptions of where analysis practices fit within the ill-defined boundaries of agile practices, which always makes for interesting discussion. One of the areas where this occurred is the analysis of the quality requirements for a system, which led me to consider the notion of a quality spike. Read more
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Get Your Ears On
As we gain more experience and expertise in our selected domains, there becomes a stronger tendency to lean primarily on that knowledge to solve problems. Sometimes this works, but sometimes we tend to lean too far in that direction and forget that we should be listening before we start solving. There are times when we need to remind ourselves to get our ears on. Read more
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In Search of Excellent Requirements
“I’ll go find out what they want, and the rest of you start coding.” This caption from a cartoon is uncomfortably close to the way some software organizations still treat the requirements specification process. Contemporary definitions of “quality” include the concepts of both meeting stated specifications and satisfying the actual customer requirements, which sadly are not always the same thing. Converging these two components into a unified vision of the final product is the linchpin of successful software development. Read more
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Go With Your Strength
I see many companies that start out with a compelling idea for solving a nasty business problem, but somewhere along the way their implementation gets a lot fuzzier. In more than a few situations, we are best served if we remember to go with our strength. Read more
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